When should a prostate cancer patient see an oncologist?

There is no simplistic response to this question. Some would strongly suggest that every newly diagnosed prostate cancer patient would benefit from a multidisciplinary review of his treatment options, inclusive of not only the Urologist but also the medical Oncologist as well as the Radiation Oncologist . Of course, there must be an infrastructure of collaborative communication in order to facilitate patient education and informed decision making and also be mindful of economic and geographical proximities of access to the consultations. Assuredly, there must be an interest on all chosen specialists that there training is duly geared toward prostate cancer. That said, for the patients who are not cured by primary therapy(surgery, radiation, cryotherapy), and who progress after the initiation of testosterone(androgen) lowering agents, and thus may be developing more progressive disease, albeit usually asymptomatic, this may provide another key entry point for medical oncology consultation, especially if the managing urologists has not kept pace with the plethora of new therapies which are very well tolerated and life prolonging as well as accessible prior to consideration of chemotherapy.

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